HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
MONDAY, 20 JULY 2020
MANDELA DAY
This morning, The Secretary-General spoke at the General Assembly’s commemoration of Nelson Mandela Day.
The Secretary-General extended his warmest congratulations to the 2020 laureates of the UN Nelson Mandela Prize: Mrs. Marianna Vardinoyannis of Greece and Dr. Morissana Kouyate of Guinea. The Secretary-General said that both are recognized for their long-standing commitment to the service of humanity in the areas of human rights, access to health care, and the empowerment of women and girls and the most vulnerable in society.
The Secretary-General recalled that Nelson Mandela had said, “As long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest.”
Similarly, the Secretary-General added, high and rising levels of inequality threaten our well-being and our future. Inequality damages everyone.
The answer, he said, lies in a New Social Contract – which is something that he had presented on Saturday when he delivered the Nelson Mandela Lecture. A New Social Contract within societies will enable young people to live in dignity, he asserted. It will ensure that women have the same prospects and opportunities as men. And it will protect the sick, the vulnerable, and minorities of all kinds.
In his lecture on Saturday to the Foundation, the Secretary-General said that the New Social Contract must integrate employment, sustainable development and social protection, based on equal rights and opportunities for all.
He warned that the pandemic has demonstrated the fragility of our world. It has laid bare risks that we have ignored for decades: inadequate health systems; gaps in social protection; structural inequalities; environmental degradation; and the climate crisis. And he said that COVID-19 has been likened to an x-ray, revealing fractures in the skeleton of the societies we have built.
The Secretary-General, in his lecture, said that COVID-19 is a human tragedy but it has also created a generational opportunity - an opportunity to build back a more equal and sustainable world. His remarks were made available to you in all UN working languages over the weekend.
AZERBAIJAN\ARMENIA
The spokesman said that the Secretary-General is following with deep concern the current tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia. He calls for maximum restraint as a full conflict between these two countries would be disastrous.
SECURITY COUNCIL
This morning, the Security Council held a closed meeting over video conference on the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, otherwise known as UNFICYP. Council members were briefed by Elizabeth Spehar, the Special Representative and Head of the UN Mission there.
YEMEN
As of today, WHO has confirmed 1,610 cases of COVID-19 in Yemen, including 445 deaths. The fatality rate is alarmingly high at over 27 per cent — that’s five times the global average. Actual infection numbers are likely to be much higher, as testing materials are in short supply. Despite severe funding gaps, aid agencies are racing to scale up the pandemic response. More than 10,000 metric tonnes of medical equipment, testing kits and medicine have been transported into Yemen, with some 2,000 more in the pipeline. Beyond the 642,000 personal protective equipment (PPE) items that are currently available in the country, an additional 1.7 million assorted such items are to arrive this week. We, along with our partners are urgently expanding hospital capacity in key population centres. This includes establishing 21 new Intensive Care Units (ICUs) in COVID designated hospitals, adding to 38 existing ICUs.
Aid agencies require $385 million USD in funding to support COVID-19 operations, including $304 million dollars for health. As of today, the operation has received only $55 million. That’s only 14 per cent of what we actually need.
GUATEMALA
In Guatemala, there are more than 38,000 confirmed cases and more than 1,400 deaths. The UN team, led by Resident Coordinator Rebeca Arias, is investing $1 million from the Secretary-General’s COVID-19 Response and Recovery Trust Fund for immediate health and socio-economic needs, focusing on the most vulnerable people. With these funds, the United Nations has trained frontline healthcare workers and is providing food and mental health support for women. We are also helping the Government with people returning to Guatemala from Mexico and the United States, identifying those who have special protection needs. UNHCR is also screening and counseling these returnees and has provided beds, diapers and other supplies. The UN team is also helping to assess the social and economic impacts of the pandemic. With about half of all Guatemalan households depending on remittances, the impact of drastic reduction of these payments is especially worrying.
SUDAN
In Sudan, the U.N. and humanitarian partners, in support of the Transitional Government, yesterday launched a supplement to the 2020 Humanitarian Response Plan to respond to help millions of people affected by the health and humanitarian consequences of COVID-19. With the pandemic having triggered a further economic slowdown, more than $280 million is urgently needed to help the Government provide aid to more than 6.7 million Sudanese people. Our humanitarian colleagues say that more than 9.6 million people – which is nearly a quarter of the entire population – are facing severe hunger, the highest figure ever recorded in Sudan. The UN, along with our partners are providing COVID-19 testing kits and other medical supplies. We have trained more than 1,600 health workers, distributed hygiene kits to nearly half a million people, and reached over 25 million people with campaigns to raise awareness and prevent transmissions. At least 2.8 million people were reached with food assistance in Sudan, in May alone.
PEACEKEEPING MISSIONS
The UN Mission in the Central African Republic organized an awareness campaign in Bangui with NGOs and the Ministry for the Advancement of Women to address gender-based violence and help protect marginalized groups from COVID-19. The goal of the campaign is to bring about a large-scale behaviour change against sexual abuse and violence.
Ans in South Sudan, the UN Mission in the country is helping to train community leaders in Upper Nile State on how to prevent the spread of the virus. The mission is also distributing leaflets, as well as hundreds of face masks.
INDIA/NEPAL FLOODS
Nearly four million people have been displaced in the state of Assam in India and neighbouring Nepal due to heavy flooding from monsoon rains, with the death toll at 189.
The United Nations stands ready to support the Government of India if required.
And in Nepal, authorities have urged people living along riverbanks and low-land areas in the Terai region to move to safe sites due to the possibility of floods.
Access is the biggest challenge, with search-and-rescue efforts being hampered by landslides in remote areas. The World Food Programme is working on reaching impacted communities, with helicopters being the only viable option at present.
The U.N. stands ready to provide additional humanitarian support to the most vulnerable communities in Nepal.
AFRICAN SWINE FEVER
Today the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) launched a joint initiative for the Global Control of African swine fever. According to FAO, in recent years, African Swine Fever (ASF) has become a major crisis for the pork industry, currently affecting several countries in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Europe. It has caused massive losses in pig populations, with drastic economic consequences. The initiative aims to improve the capability of countries to control the disease and facilitate business continuity, ensuring safe production and trade to protect food systems. Pork is the most consumed meat in the world, representing 35.6 percent of global meat consumption.
LOCUSTS
The World Meteorological Organization today said that locusts continue to be a serious threat to food security in parts of East Africa, India and Pakistan as a result of changing climate conditions that can be linked to human activity.
WMO said that extreme weather events and climatic changes such as increases in temperature and rainfall over desert areas, and the strong winds associated with tropical cyclones, provide a new environment for pest breeding, development and migration.
WMO is working with the Food and Agricultural Organization by providing data on the desert locust life cycle and on weather and climate conditions in the impacted areas.
INTERNATIONAL CHESS DAY
To celebrate the first International Chess Day, a High-Level Virtual Event named “Chess for Recovering Better” brought together players, the UN, governments officials, permanent missions in New York, representatives of civil society and academia.
The meeting provided a platform to discuss the unique capabilities leveraged by chess in supporting social cohesion, equality and inclusion. The focus was the COVID-19 response and recovery efforts for building back better.
While the pandemic has forced most gaming and sports activities to scale down, chess has demonstrated remarkable resilience, adaptability and a very strong convening power in the time of the pandemic. Over the past few months, the overall interest in chess is reported to have doubled, with more players than ever coming together to participate in chess events that are being increasingly held on online platforms.
PRESS BRIEFING TOMORROW
Reem Abaza, the Spokesperson for the President of the General Assembly, will brief the press tomorrow.
FNANCIAL CONTRIBUTION
Bangladesh has fully paid its contribution to the regular budget. There are now 105 fully paid up members.
